THE closure of Holsworthy Hospital's 'mortuary' has been described as an "unnecessary" move after the process of discontinuing the refrigerated storage room ('mortuary') began on September 1.

The hospital, which was built fewer than 20 years ago, described as "new" compared to other hospitals in the Torridge district, had a refrigerated storage room which would store the deceased in the same location as the hospital and allow relatives to visit when they pleased.

However, after a review carried out by The Northern Devon Healthcare Trust of mortuary facilities in community hospitals and the services offered to the deceased and bereaved families, the trust has decided to standardise mortuary facilities in a number of hospitals across the district, including Holsworthy.

In replacement of the refrigerated storage room, the trust has asked local funeral directors to transfer the deceased from the hospital to their chapel of rest within three to four hours of death, in Holsworthy this would be J E Stacey & Co Ltd.

Jane Wells, a business partner at Holsworthy Medical Centre, felt that the moving of the bodies was "unnecessary" as the chilled cabinets and room itself at the hospital were of "gold standard" compared to other hospitals' such as Bideford, South Molton and Illfracoombe.

Along with this, she felt that it would cause "extra distress to families at such an unhappy time."

A spokesperson from the trust said: "During the review we also asked GPs and local stakeholders for their views on local arrangements for the deceased. The range of community mortuary facilities to care for recently deceased patients varies greatly across the trust and the aim of the review was to ensure a consistent and high standard of facilities."

It was explained that in northern Devon, the only mortuary facility which meets the required standards to care for the deceased and the needs of families is at North Devon District Hospital (NDDH) in Barnstaple.

A spokesperson continued: "Holsworthy is the only community hospital in northern Devon with a refrigerated storage room, but this is not the same as a mortuary with facilities for families and specialist staff to meet their needs at a difficult time. Currently, when a patient dies at one of the community hospitals, the nursing staff liaise with the family, who are usually all present, to help them fulfil their wishes for the next steps.

"Problems can sometimes arise when the wishes are complex or the family live far away. Our nursing staff excel at offering care and compassion to relatives and friends of the deceased, but are not experts at the complex processes of registering deaths and organising funerals."

Subsequent to the given reasons, the trust has decided to standardise the mortuary arrangements at all community hospitals.

"Following site visits to all premises and by using a local funeral director, this ensures that all deaths are treated equitably across northern Devon and that families have access to the right advice. The only change families will notice is that instead of calling the hospital to arrange to pay their respects, they will call the funeral directors.

"The only effect this change will have on GPs is to require them to travel to the funeral director — as opposed to the community hospital — to complete the medical certificate of cause of death and cremation forms, where required. Most GPs welcome this change as storage and viewing facilities at the community hospitals are not adequate and this will avoid inappropriate delays in transferring the deceased to a funeral director," added the trust's spokesperson.

However, Jane expressed her concern that for the GP to travel to the funeral directors it may cause a "delay" in the process. Along with this, extra cost to the hospital was a worry that would be encountered through the new method.

A spokesperson added: "It is not going to cost any more or any less. The trust has to maintain the refrigerated equipment anyway so it will be no extra cost to the hospital."

The 'Post' was told that there would only be a charge to relatives who decided not to use the chosen funeral directors, around £90 for the transfer of a body. However, after carrying out a survey it was established that the majority of people (approximately 90 per cent) in the Holsworthy area used J E Stacey and Co Funeral Directors, which made a suitable choice for the hospital without incurring an extra cost to families.

Rachel Hooper, modern matron for Torrington and Holsworthy said: "This is not about cost saving, but about offering people a consistently high standard of care. After the initial emotion following a death, our nursing staff are not the right people to provide funeral or legal advice.

"Rather than maintain a varying service across North Devon, this change means we use the expertise of funeral directors at the appropriate time. The trust will keep the arrangements under review to ensure the funeral directors are providing a high standard of care."

When asked what the refrigerated room was going to be replaced with, a spokesperson for the The Northern Devon Healthcare Trust said there were no plans as of yet and the decision would be left to the hospital.